


You can call me babe for the weekend

by iBubbles



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Christmas, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28376718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iBubbles/pseuds/iBubbles
Summary: "I didn’t have “fake date Shane to cone his family” on my 2020 bingo card, but I think it’s the perfect ridiculous thing to end this year with,” Ryan smiles.Shane's aunt Ada mistakes Ryan for being Shane's partner as opposed to his work partner.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 22
Kudos: 130
Collections: Skeptic Believer Book Club Secret Santa





	You can call me babe for the weekend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [7_Magpies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/7_Magpies/gifts).



> Happy Holidays Mac! I still can't believe this is a thing that happened and I got you, my Taylor Swift buddy for this! I hope there's enough fluff here to get you to enjoy yourself. 
> 
> \-----
> 
> Is this thing still on? It took a pandemic for me to remember my AO3's password and decide to write something.. Thank you for Jess & the bridge club for holding my hand through this because I still can't believe in the year of 2020 I posted my first fic in 8 years and it's Shyan.
> 
> Biggest shout out to[AJ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zhalia) my beta and life saver, thank you so much for making my mumbling mess a coherent proper fic.

It all starts with the mess that is the pandemic. Shane decides early on that he won’t fly back to Schaumburg for the holidays. As much as he loves his family, he just can’t give himself or his family enough of an excuse to meet up when the world was on fire, literally and figuratively.

Sometime in August, he and Sara mutually decided to break up. She got an amazing offer out of town that was too good to pass and will help her focus on her art. It was bittersweet, but she didn’t want to give him an ultimatum between their relationship and the company, Shane knows he will always love and appreciate her for that.

Around November - and planning the second season of Too Many Spirits - he makes a list of all his distant relatives that he’s going to start calling. Making the time to greet some of his favorite family members for the holidays and make up for him not making it home for Thanksgiving. By the time they are setting up for the shoot in Ryan’s parents’ backyard - and before he puts his Krampus makeup on - he calls his great aunt Ada. He loves her a lot, to the point where he spent a good portion of his last vacation back home teaching her how to FaceTime. It only took a couple of rings before she answers the phone and her face fills his screen.

“Hey, Aunt Ada,” He says excitedly.

“Hey, Shane, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing great, missing you guys,” He responds, frowning in the process.

“Oh, my dear boy, it’s going to be okay. You have your friends around?”

“I do, but we’re still not doing anything special. We feel another lockdown looming around, sadly.” He smiles a bit, looking at the group around him setting up, “How about I introduce you to them?”

Shane stands up, walking toward Katie first. After putting enough distance between them and raising his phone to include them both in the shot, he smiles, “This is Katie, she’s the brain of this show we’re setting up for, she thought it would be great if me and Ryan got drunk while reading scary stories.” 

Katie smiles and waves.

“Oh, she knows you boys too well,” smiles his aunt.

“And this is Brittney, who’s the youngest member of our team and yet she is the most productive one.” He pans the phone to Brittney, who is helping prepare Steven’s little bar set up, “She’s our production coordinator, meaning she’s the one who put this shoot together and made sure we’re all tested and here on time.”

“And I’m the brain in this company,” Suddenly Steven jumps into the shot, “Hello, Shane’s aunt, my name is Steven.”

“Well, hello, Steven,” She smiles through the phone screen, “So you’re the one who invented the tide pods?”

“Not invented, but was on the team working on the concept,” Steven replies, “I’m the half of the midwestern part of this group.”

“It was very lovely to meet you, Steven.”

“And last but not least, I’m trying to find Ryan, my partner...” Shane is cut off with a sudden scream from Britney. He looks over and sees that Brittney's hand had slipped and she dropped one of the glasses she was setting up

“Hey, Aunt Ada, looks like we got a bit of clean up we need to do before the shoot, I love you and will come to see you as soon as things get better, okay?”

“I love you too, honey. Say hi to Ryan and don’t forget to send me some pictures of the little festivities with your boyfriend!”

“Sure.. what?” But it is too late, she hung up already. He wants to call her back but he really needs to put his makeup on, maybe help Britney and Steven clean up so they can start shooting safely.

Five hours of shooting and many many drinks later, they pack up. He passes on the chance to sleep over at Ryan’s - even though it feels like the smart thing to do - and gets into Katie’s back seat. He doesn’t think he can sit straight and offer good company before she drops him off. While laying down he sees a couple of texts from his mom and one from Scott, all asking about his boyfriend. It takes him a bit before he makes the connection to what his aunt Ada said. He opens Scott’s text thread first.

_Congrats on boning Ryan._

_It took years but you finally got the company and the boy._

Wait, what?

_Aunt Ada called mom, asking about your partner Ryan?_

I meant my work partner?

_Well, she said partner..._

work partner, Ghoulfriends, co-founder,  
ghosthunting buddy, all valid. Boyfriend? no.

_What did you say to her exactly?_

I’m too drunk to remember...

 _Well, mom, aunt Ada and everyone else for that matter_ _  
__are now expecting pictures of you and your boyfriend_ _  
__celebrating the holidays since they won’t be able to see you._

I’m just going to call and tell her this is a big  
misunderstanding, I’m not dating Ryan.

_But you want to?_

...

_Shane?_

Maybe... But it’s too complicated

 _If you say so, anyway in the pictures you’ll be posting,_ _  
__just recycle the Santa suit he wore during tonight’s_ _  
__shoot, that’s why you’re drunk, right?_

Yeah

As soon as Katie drops him home, he doesn’t bother with the shower as he feels too exhausted to move. He drinks as much water as his stomach can handle, takes some Advil, and passes out. He dreams about Chicago, the snow, and a Christmas tree with lots of gifts under it. Then someone, who looks like Ryan, under a mistletoe, and wait- are they kissing? After which there is a persistence ringing. 

He slowly opens his eyes, looks around him a bit. He’s laying in his bed in Los Angeles, not Chicago. His head hurts like a bitch and his phone won’t stop ringing. He looks at the time and it’s around 11 am, so he silences his phone and goes back to bed. He doesn’t know how much time passes but Obi is mewing near him - he must be hungry, so he drags himself to feed him.

He drags his feet into the shower trying to remember why he felt like hell beside the mini hangover as he’s managing that ok. He’s done dressing up and looking for his phone when he suddenly hears a knock on the door. He’s not expecting anyone and didn’t order any food, so he slowly walks toward the door. He opens it to one Ryan Bergara with the weirdest expression on his face.

“Hello, boyfriend,” Ryan says with something between anger and a smirk.

“Oh shit, who called?” says Shane, leaving the door open and heading straight to the kitchen. He is not going to go through this without some coffee in his system.

“Your mom, who’s really happy about us finally getting our shit together apparently. What the fuck, dude?” says Ryan, in a voice that sounds more amused than angry to Shane’s surprise.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened yesterday but I swear I’m going to get on fixing it,” says Shane as he got the mugs out of the cabinets for him and Ryan.

“What happened, man?” sitting on Shane’s kitchen counter and crossing his arms.

“I think..” Shane tries to remember the exact details from yesterday, but gets distracted by Ryan’s biceps, “I think I was about to introduce you to my aunt Ada as my work partner but she didn’t hear it well and heard it as ‘partner’ and ran with it?”

“Sounds plausible,” smiles Ryan, taking the tea mug from Shane.

“I’m sorry. I swear I’ll get on fixing it, just need to be fully awake before making the call,” Shane takes his first sip of a much-needed caffeine fix of the day.

“Or you don’t? I didn’t have “fake date Shane to cone his family” on my 2020 bingo card, but I think it’s the perfect ridiculous thing to end this year with,” Ryan smiles, “Also, I miss hanging out with you so isolating together for a bit doesn’t sound like the worst thing ever.”

“Wait what?” Shane is definitely imagining this.

“Shane Madej, we are conning your aunt Ada,” Shane’s face must be doing something weird because Ryan isn’t smiling anymore “Unless you don’t want to? I just thought it would be easier for you since according to your mom at least 80% of your family thinks we’re dating right now thanks to your aunt Ada’s Facebook.”

Shane took another sip of his coffee trying to think quickly about the situation. 

Pros: He & Ryan will be spending some time together, which they haven’t done since mid-March; he’s been a bit lonely lately so he definitely won’t mind the company, and he missed Ryan... A lot. 

Cons: he will be spending some time with Ryan, and lately his feelings have been getting too much even for his own sake. He just really likes Ryan but can’t do anything about it because of everything else.

“Of course I miss hanging out with you Ry, but you good with doing the whole nine yards?”

“Who are you talking to here man?” Ryan sounds offended, “Christmas is my second favorite holiday after Halloween. Tree decorating? Check. Baking cookies? Double check. Christmas movies? Triple hell to the yeah”.

“I can’t believe _you’re_ the one convincing me to do this.”

“I mean I can’t believe it too, I really thought I’ll be mad at you after your mom’s call because seriously, dude, a heads up would’ve been nice! But also, I’ve been thinking about it and it’s just funny. So why not! If anyone can fool the entire Madej clan of Schaumburg, Illinois that we’re dating; it’s Brian Cramblish and Brad Pistachio.”

Shane laughs; he couldn’t help it. God, he loves him so much. He is such a cliche, but if Ryan is going to be happy about it, then what’s stopping him?. They sit down and try to plan it, because _why not?_

Ryan is going to move in the first week of December. They can’t just fit all the fake posting into one day and they both could use the company. It also gives Shane a couple of weeks to order some stuff to decorate his apartment after all. He wasn’t feeling the spirit much this year. 

After Ryan leaves, the first thing he starts looking up is trees, which thanks to the pandemic, is a thing you can actually do online this year.

In between last-minute Christmas gift shopping, Watcher meetings, going through first and final cuts of shows, _and_ filming Watcher Weekly Plus, it’s suddenly the first week of December. Ryan texts him that he’s coming by in an hour and if he needs anything from the grocery store. The Christmas tree got delivered the previous day and it actually looks great. That’s one thing he doesn’t have to worry about. He does a quick look around the apartment. He had cleaned earlier and made sure to try and vacuum every last bit of cat hair to not irritate Ryan’s allergy.

“Okay, so I think we’re good. How are we feeling, Obi boy?” Shane looks at Obi, who was taking a nap on the kitchen counter and ignoring his existence. “It’s going to be fine, right? It’s just a couple of weeks hanging out with Ryan, we love Ryan, we miss him, it's gonna be fine,” Yes, Shane is talking to his cat about his situation, because _why not?_ It’s going to be _fine_ , just him and Ryan hanging out. Celebrating Christmas while pretending to be a couple and snapping some pictures to fool his family, what could possibly go wrong? Famous last words...

He’s scrolling through his phone, a bit later, when Ryan texts him to come and help to carry some stuff out of the car. Shane grabs his keys and heads out, he doesn’t know what to expect, really. But Ryan standing next to his car with two boxes full of Christmas ornaments, lights and some gifts is definitely not it.

“Are you celebrating Christmas with _me_ or with the _entire state of California_?” Shane asks, already leaning in to carry one of the boxes.

“You know, if I do something, I go all in or not bother at all,” smiles Ryan.

“Okay, but I already have a wreath on my door, why did we need _another one_?” Shane sighs, walking up to his door while trying to take a peek into the box he’s carrying.

“You have a shitty fake wreath on your door, and honestly, you can do better,” Ryan walks beside him.

They walk up to Shane’s apartment. Ryan puts aside his bag and box, removes Shane’s shitty wreath, and puts up the one he brought with him. As much as Shane would hate to admit it, the one Ryan got was better and more cheerful than the fake one he ordered from Amazon.

“It’s starting to look like a real holiday in this joint,” Ryan says, dragging Shane near the door.

“Ryan, woah, careful,” Shane nearly falls.

“Selfie with your awesome, very real boyfriend. Step it up man,” Ryan tries to put his arms around Shane’s neck and take a selfie, without showing the box he was carrying. After some maneuvering that didn’t work out, he ends up pulling Shane down, planting a kiss on his cheek, and snapping the picture. Shane is still trying to process what happens, when Ryan shows him the photo. 

“Looks good, man,” He definitely looks surprised, but if anyone else saw it without context, they’d think it’s him pulling a face.

A while later, after getting Ryan settled on Shane’s couch, they start going through the boxes, seeing some of the stuff Ryan got.

“I hope you don’t mind, I brought some ornaments from my parent’s house. I thought since I’m spending Christmas here, I’d like them with me.”

“Of course man. It’s our Christmas together, even if we’re lying about the whole dating thing, family, given and chosen, right?”

“Right,” Ryan has with a fond look on his face, “Okay, so Christmas tree decorating first, since it’s my favorite part.”

“I’m ready. I’m not picky about where to start, but I already put up the lights. Obi doesn’t care about it, the moment it goes on the tree. Then I usually do ornaments, starting from the top,” Shane approaches the tree with his stuff.

“Of course, since it’s easier for you to reach that part. You know, being the giant person that you are. I want to start with these because they are the newest and I’m happy about how they turned out,” says Ryan, while pulling out a couple of ornaments with the _Too Many Spirits_ ghosts on them.

“Okay, fine. Those are the only ghosts allowed in this house, because they’re my brain’s baby,” Shane looks happily at how good the ornaments actually turned out, they really should’ve sold them as merch.

“Yeah, well, they’re adorable, I told you that before and I still think they’re some of the best products from that big head of yours. You next.”

“Well, this one is pretty special, because it was the first one I saved up and got with my own money,” Shane pulls out a Batman ornament, “It’s pretty basic but I do love it, it’s one of the few I still have from my childhood.”

“Aww, Shane, you softie. Well, if we’re about sentiment, I brought a few from my childhood as well. They're not as special as Batman, but there are just good memories attached to them,” says Ryan, while putting the few he got out of the box and starts putting them up. “I also got the Mothman one because the ghoulboys can’t celebrate Christmas without it.”

And with that, for the next half an hour, they keep sharing stories about their favorite childhood memories. They talk about decorating and what ornaments mean what. Ryan pulls out the garlands next, out of the box near him, and Shane has an idea.

“Put them around your neck,” says Shane, grabbing his phone to snap a picture.

“Oh right, we’re doing this,” Ryan puts the garland around him and puts one on Shane’s shoulder while singing _“All along there was some Invisible string tying you to me_.”

“Not this again,” says Shane, trying to take a picture while Ryan laughs, “Also, it’s not invisible, it’s red and silver.”

“You will give Taylor Swift the respect she deserves, Madej!” Ryan puts on a fake pout. 

Shane snaps the picture at that exact moment, because it was just too funny and cute... And yep, that’s what he was worried about: his feelings are acting up again and he’s not sure how he’s going to handle it. Ryan will be around _all the time._ But, he may enjoy it while it lasts. Just a little is better than nothing at all.

“You done?” asks Ryan.

“Yeah, sorry, it’s good,” says Shane, putting the phone aside and going back to decorating, “So I was thinking we could do a Christmas movie watch? Fit in a couple of Christmas movies every day leading to the big day.”

“I’m in. We just need to make sure to check in with Steven to make time for work and we’re set.”

“Speaking off, are we shooting Watcher Weekly together?”

“I mean obviously, why?”

“I just thought it would be weird? Fans would be wondering why you’re here with me?”

“I mean, we are both kind of bored and lonely right now, so why not? Just two bros chilling and isolating together, while pretending to be boyfriends in private because you fucked up.”

And Shane could hear the smile. He knows Ryan meant no hard feelings but it does hurt when it’s put like that out loud, “And I said I’m sorry and offered to fix it, but you need a break from the rowdy boys and here we are.” And just like that, they were back into it.

They finished the tree a while later and decided to get on with the movie watching. Shane made the popcorn, Ryan decided on _Jingle All the Way_ and queued it up. He was on his phone when Shane settled next to him, but then put it aside and started the movie. 

Shane’s phone pinged at the same time. He opened the text and found that Ryan had sent him the selfie from earlier. He smiled at his phone and sent the selfie to his mom. Then he sent the tree one and the selfie to his aunt Ada, asking her politely to not share it around like she shared the news. 

Ten minutes into the movie, he & Ryan were bickering and Shane felt content for the first time since Sara moved out. 

They finished the movie and decided to watch Home Alone before Shane went to bed and Ryan settled on the couch. Shane made sure to get Obi inside his room to not trigger much of Ryan’s allergy, as he was occupying Obi’s favorite chill place.

Nothing much happened in the next few days, they worked on some editing, shot Watcher Weekly together - to Steven’s surprise - and caught up with some Christmas movies, while eating their weight in popcorn. Shane exchanged some texts with his mom and aunt Ada, where they fawned over his cute boyfriend. 

And it was okay, really. It’s just a few more days of Ryan posing as his partner, before it all goes back to hell, because that’s really what it was. It was a nice feeling having Ryan around. It’s just them, with a bit of posing when he or Ryan remember the reason they’re doing this, and the need for a picture to document it. Ryan leaning too close, Shane puts his arms around him, Ryan having a staring contest with Obi as long as he could before he sneezes or Obi decides he’s done with him. And what hurts more than anything is how natural it feels, all of it.

Christmas eve is the day it all goes to shit. They were doing fine, they really were. The amount of touching and closeness they’ve been experiencing was something Shane could work with. Beside the cheek kiss from the day Ryan moved in, they kept it civil. He knows they both were being a little more touchy than usual, but nine months of a pandemic does that to a person. 

And it was fine until it wasn’t.

They decide their activity for the day would be baking. Ryan isn’t much of a cook and neither is Shane, but at least he can manage working on a batch without burning the house, Ryan, on the other hand, just enjoys fucking around with the decoration. 

While the first batch baked, Ryan plays with a bit of flour with a contemplative look on his face.

“Food fights pictures are never cute, Ryan, please don’t,” pleads Shane.

“Oh I wasn’t thinking about that, but now I am,” Ryan smiles, “I was actually thinking about how we didn’t do a mistletoe picture? Isn’t that like the most common couple’s picture during Christmas?”

“Oh, yeah, I just didn’t think you’d be comfortable with it? I didn’t want to pressure you into doing it just because I got us into this situation. Also, do I even have one?” Shane busies himself trying to perfect the second batch and get it ready for the oven.

“I may have brought one, it’s not really out of reach of everything we did, I can set it up while you finish?”

“Alright, sounds good”.

And that’s how Shane ends up nearly burning down his apartment.

He can’t kiss Ryan, why did he say yes? Why did he even _entertain_ the thought there for a bit? _“No Ryan, it’s ok,”_ would be very direct and simple and just- 

He doesn’t need to know what it feels like to kiss Ryan and then never experience it in his life ever again. His oven beeping brings him back to reality, he removes the batch that is a bit burnt and puts in the second one in. Silently hoping that Ryan is going to come back into the kitchen any minute now, and tell him that they don’t need to do it.

Twelve minutes later, Ryan hasn’t come back to the kitchen. Shane takes out the cookie batch to let it cool down and heads to the living room, not knowing what to expect. It surely wasn’t Ryan, in his Santa hat, setting his phone on a chair, using some books from Shane’s shelf as a make-do tripod to angle it in front of the tree, and under Obi’s watchful eye. And yep, that’s a mistletoe he had hanging from Shane’s ceiling.

“I had to try and get a little bit creative with the setup, but the angle looks good, we can set the timer from my watch,” says Ryan, proud of himself.

“Gotta give it to you, buddy, it’s not ideal to deal with a tall talent,” says Shane standing in front of Ryan.

“I’m used to it by now, man,” Ryan puts his arms around Shane’s neck “Okay, let’s work some magic here, with the right angle I think we can make a very convincing couple.”

And with that, Shane can’t breathe. He put his arms around Ryan, who was focused on his watch and attempting to move them in a way to fit the mistletoe, the tree, and a medium shot of their bodies. Once he was happy he dragged Shane’s head down a bit.

“Okay, on the count of three,” says Ryan as he got as close to Shane as he could. He puts his lips near Shane’s without actually touching. 

Shane hates it, he thought kissing Ryan would be torture but this is much worse. He should’ve known Ryan would be smart about this, Ryan is a brilliant cinematographer, even if it’s something he doesn’t do anymore. The angle is perfect, especially because of the way he angeled Shane’s body, it would 100% look like they're kissing in the picture.

“Let’s do another one just to be safe,” And with every word, the side of their lips touch, and Shane’s self-control just crumbles at that moment. _Fuck it all_ , he raises his hand to Ryan’s face and moves it to align their lips perfectly together. He kisses Ryan, who freezes for a minute before kissing back. 

It’s everything he ever wanted, and he’s not sure for a moment if he’s dreaming or it’s real. Ryan’s lips are soft, and he already knows he never wants to kiss anyone else for the rest of his life and- _wow._ He knows he loves Ryan but didn’t realize how far it goes and what a great moment to have that realization while kissing him.

Their little bubble bursts when Obi decides it’s a great time to demand some attention and mews by Shane’s legs. 

The kiss breaks, but they don’t get too far. Shane is looking at Ryan waiting for some kind of reaction, anger, disgust, even laughter is something he’s prepared for.

What he wasn’t ready for, is Ryan looking at him with soft eyes before he says, “Your heart is beating too fast.”

“That’s on you,” Shane answers with a smile, “Let me refill his food bowl and I’ll be back.”

Shane grabs Obi and can’t walk out of the living room fast enough. He fills Obi’s food bowl and then stands up on the spot for the kitchen and starts to freak the fuck out. _Did that just happen?_ Did he really just kiss Ryan? And Ryan kissed him back? Did they just share an amazing kiss and it got interrupted by his cat acting out for the first time in his life? Is that a sign? Is Ryan freaking out exactly like him in the other room? Oh shit, Ryan is definitely freaking out in the other room, which means he needs to actually go and talk to him. 

He takes one last deep breath and heads back to see that Ryan moved onto the sofa and on his phone. He sits slowly next to him and sees that Ryan is looking at the picture they just took. It was the one before the actual kiss, the first one Ryan took and it looks perfect, no editing needed. The afternoon light gives the picture such a soft intimate feeling.

“This looks beautiful Ryan, you did good,” says Shane.

“It is beautiful I mean, but I liked the real thing more.” Ryan is fidgeting, he’s nervous.

“Yeah? I did too.”

“Do you regret it?” Ryan is looking at him now.

And there is fear in Ryan’s eyes, he is scared. Shane recognizes that look from countless nights in abandoned houses all over the country. He does not like it. 

Shane reaches out and covers Ryan’s hands in his, “I do not. I actually wanted to apologize for springing it on you, but I feel like I don’t need to do that,”

“You don’t, Shane. If me kissing back wasn’t an indicator of how much I didn’t mind… Well, maybe we need to do it again, as I have some convincing to do.” Ryan smiles.

And it hurts now, it does but in a good way. He kissed Ryan, who’s smiling at him right now and the world didn’t burn down and he just feels... _Bliss_. 

He raises Ryan’s hands to his lips and plants a soft kiss there, “I’m going to say a few things and I need you to listen to me until the end, okay?” Ryan nods, and Shane has to take a long breath before he starts talking.

“So, a few months ago - between the pandemic, the break-up and just being alive in general in this hell of a year - I may have started depending on you as a source of comfort,” _And that was bad_ , he knew that then and he knows it now. Even if Ryan is going to be graceful about it, “I know it’s not a healthy coping mechanism, but it was working for me and we were good.”

“A while ago, I realized why it was so easy for me to do that and it hit me as a bit of a surprise, but only to me, apparently,” Ryan’s hands are still in his, but he turned them around. It is as if he feels that _Shane_ is the one who needs his hand to be held through this. Shane continues, “I think I’m in love with you, Ryan. I’m sorry for springing it on you like this, but you kissed me back, and if this shit of a year taught me anything, it’s that if I see any glimpse of hope, I should really hold into it and never let it go.”

Ryan’s answer isn’t instant, which nearly killed Shane in the process. But a few million seconds later, he had a lap full of Ryan, kissing him like his life depended on it.

Ryan smiles, “Just to be clear, I love you too.”

* * *

**Epilogue**

“When did you add the candy canes to the tree?” Ryan asks as he grabs one to suck on, joining Shane on the couch. The muppet Christmas carol plays in the background.

“I didn’t do it, must’ve been Santa,” Shane says, as he puts his arms around Ryan. It’s Christmas day. He is comfortable and happy, even though the idea of Christmas day without any snow doesn’t settle well with him. 

His phone rings, to his delight it was his aunt Ada FaceTiming him. He picks up, “Hello!”

“Merry Christmas, Shaney, how are you doing, my darling?”

“Merry Christmas, Aunt Ada. I’m doing more than okay, how are you?”

“I’m doing good, missing you and the kids but we’ll have next year, hopefully.”

“Yes, we will. Someone wants to say hi, by the way,” He says, smiling and panning the camera to Ryan. 

_“This is my partner Ryan.”_


End file.
